


You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Cool Parka

by cleverqueen



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Closure, Episode Related, Episode: s04e14 Nip/Stuck, Friendship, Gen, Leonard Snart's Parka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 22:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19385740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleverqueen/pseuds/cleverqueen
Summary: Snart left a lot of parkas in the cargo hold, in enough sizes to outfit team members he’d never even met before. You know he couldn’t resist leaving messages with them too.





	1. You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Cool Parka

Mick’s hearing _his_ voice everywhere. Echoes, at least. Has been ever since the heat got turned off.

This time, he doesn’t keep it to himself. He wants to know if he’s going crazy or not. Besides, it’s more comforting than upsetting this time. 

He meets up with Charlie in the exterior cargo bay that the Legends use as a mud room. It’s less messy than usual. Someone’s keen.

“Hey,” he rumbles at Charlie, who smells like the sandalwood incense Lisa used to buy. “Seen a guy wearing one of those coats?”

They raise their perfectly pointy eyebrows at him. “You’re wearing one yourself, mate.”

Mick’s coat is too tight across his shoulders, doesn’t close correctly. Not like Charlie’s. Then again, he didn’t go to the cargo bay and pick one out of a huge wardrobe of patented Captain Cold parkas in multiple sizes. He didn’t need to. He had the real thing in his room, under a stack of Rebecca Silver proofing manuscript printouts. He’s not emotional about them or anything. He just can’t light up an appropriate bonfire for them on the _Waverider_. Oxygen. Science. Reasons. 

Mick growls at Charlie. It’s easier than coming up with words. At some point, words stopped working unless written down.

They grin. “Yeah, I got a message. Froze me in my tracks, it did.” _Snart would’ve liked the pun._ “Is your buddy the kind of guy who’d booby-trap his coats?”

 _If he thought you were stealing it. If he thought it would be fun._ Mick bites back the answering grin that wants to spread over his face. Whether it’s because of Charlie or from reminiscing over Len’s sense of humor, he’s not doing it. He carries on the joke though. “Yes,” he says.

Charlie looks like they’re ready to shed their parka, thermostat issues or no thermostat issues. And Mick likes them too much to let them get frostbit.

“Nah,” he amends his answer. “Message’s to make you paranoid.”

Charlie’s stolen face brightens again. “I like your boy,” they say. “Wish I coulda met him in real life.”

 _Me too._ Mick shivers in his too-small parka, and the soft fur brushes his face in just the way it used to whenever Snart stood particularly close. He grunts an empty reply to Charlie’s comment.

#

When Sara joins Mick and Charlie, she’s got a steaming cup of coffee fragrant in her hand. She looks ready to attack the snow outside like she can make a difference and dig out the _Waverider_ with moxie alone. She....

When Sara shows up, Mick has to ask. It’s more important than pick-axes and clean snow. “He talk to you?”

Sara doesn’t ask who ‘he’ is. She just sinks her axe deeper into the snow. It makes a tiny dent, quickly filled. Her coffee had stopped steaming.

As she pulls back her arm for another heart-melting blow, Mick can’t help but notice that the parka moves with her. She doesn’t have to shake back the sleeves or adjust the shoulders. It is, in fact, a perfect fit. It _looks_ a little big, like she’s just borrowing it, but it doesn’t move big.

 _That dork custom-made copies of his trademark parka for the whole team._ Mick slants a considering look at Charlie. _And enough spares to fit anyone else. Just in case of a situation like this?_

He snorts at the thought. Which makes Sara annoyed at him. Hey, he wasn’t going to make her talk if she clearly didn’t want to. Pretty clear he was the king of not-talking these days. Maybe whatever was in her message had made her a little edgy.

#

Cozy in the galley with all the crew still on the ship, with all the power turned back on, Mick is losing magnificently at _Cards to Save the Timeline_. He thinks about asking Zari and Nate whether their coats came with messages. He’d swear he’d heard Snart’s voice more than once. Not in his imagination this time.

The kids are _looking_ at each other over their golden egg, though. _Useless. Probably didn’t even notice Len._ Mick takes another swig of his beer, refreshingly malty, and plays a card without even reading it.

“Your partner,” Zari starts.

Mick sets his bottle down on the table just to hear the satisfying _ker-thunk_.

“Is scary,” she finishes. Simultaneously, Nate chimes in, “is funny.”

They _look_ at each other again, maybe planning to start an argument, or a discussion, or a cute round of ‘no, you go first.’ Then they look away again, blushing. 

Mick is never writing that kind of tentative situation into a Rebecca Silver book. _Garima wouldn’t stand for it._

#

The ship is free, and everyone takes their parkas back to the cargo bay. (Except Mick who gently folds the real one and hides it beneath his proofing drafts again.) 

For recharging purposes, they need to spend a little longer in the time stream, so the Legends reconvene in the galley. “Cold As Ice” plays over the speakers, much to Charlie’s apparent delight. Charlie only hears the situational humor, not the theme song.

Sara frowns. “We need to plan for—”

The Legends have time for all _that_ work when they get where they’re going, so Mick nudges Charlie in the side. “Bet there’s video of your face from when you put the coat on.”

Charlie snickers. “That would be brilliant. I must’ve looked a right arse. Let’s see it.”

And so Sara’s planning is derailed. Zari is also curious to see what she looked like when surprised... well, she’s curious to see what Nate looked like, but those two're still dancing around their feelings. _Ugh._

And Mick’s right. There’s definitely video. Nate’s shows him jumping, then laughing, then demanding that Gideon show him the video again and trying to figure out the next ‘clue’ in a treasure hunt that doesn’t exist. 

They all watch Nate’s video twice.

Next is Zari’s. She cringes and cowers and apologizes, gripping her parka in front of her. She pauses, eyes slammed shut, then cracks them open one at a time. After a long moment wherein nothing happens, she eases one arm into a sleeve, then pauses again. Nothing happens. She dons the other arm and runs from the room.

They don’t watch her video a second time. Mick squeezes her shoulder while the rest are watching Sara’s video.

Her face contorts through joy, horror, and a fake smile. Not what Snart was hoping for with that one.

Charlie comes last, and their video is _exactly_ what Snart must have been wanting. Video!Charlie startles, then changes faces and bodies fast. Cycling in surprise and then in hopes of anonymity. Against the cargo hold’s stark grey, Charlie’s changes stand out even more than they might’ve otherwise. It’s only a few seconds, but by the end of the video, they’ve been the Queen (a perennial favorite), a Caucasian woman in jogging attire, an Arab man in medieval monk’s robes, and last: Leonard Snart himself. Charlie’s hip cock and happy sneer are as much Snart’s as their own, and it punches a laugh from Mick’s gut. 

Next up, Gideon splashes a still image across the screen they’re watching. All five of them caught mid-step—it looks like a swagger—hoods raised and mist swirling up from their feet. It’s a gorgeous picture. They look badass. Too bad the whole crew couldn’t be in it.

“Wow,” breathes Nate.

Charlie pokes Mick in the side. “How come Mick doesn’t get a video?” 

Sara answers, “Mick was always special where Snart was concerned.”

But that’s not it at all. There’s a message waiting for Mick, and a video waiting to be recorded. He’s not sure he wants to see what Snart left for him. He’s pretty sure he’ll regret not seeing it. _Damn Snart._ Always had to get his own way.

# 

After the mission action’s over, Mick goes down to the cargo hold alone. He kneels in front of a metal box and shakes out the parka marked _Mick_. It smells of sandalwood incense, just like Charlie’s had.

Snart appears in front of him, transparent but all there. He’s recorded a holographic message of himself. Full body, of course, so the viewer can see the parka.

“I knew it!” he crows. “I knew eventually there’d be a situation where everyone needed coats.” 

_Cuz that’s never happened before._ Mick shakes his head and talks back to the hologram. “Not much of a stretch.” He knows Snart almost died in a hull-breach that first year.

The recording doesn’t react. “I can’t believe I’m missing this!” Because, of course, Mick’s overplanning partner has message versions set up for cases where he’s off or on the ship when things go down. “This is a great branding opportunity. Try to get everyone to walk side by side between the engine room and the galley at least once. I’ve got Gideon primed to take a picture. Oh! And find a way to call Jax and Sara _chill_ -dren. And if you can get Stein to wear the goggles in his left pocket, that will be beautiful.”

Mick snorts at the idea.

Snart finishes up, “You’re gonna get out of this, partner. After all,” he smirks, “cold is _my_ thing.”

 _Yeah it is._ Mick pets the soft hood under his hand. “I miss you, buddy,” Mick says. First time he’s said it out loud in... a long while. It doesn’t hurt as much this time, and a fond feeling bubbles up in his chest. Probably from drinking so much beer.

He puts the oversized parka back in its box for next time—there’s always a next time—and gives it a little pat before walking away. The cargo bay door swishes shut behind him.


	2. Alternate Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'd originally written a "he's not dead!" ending. But, somehow, I liked the closure version better. Anyway, if you wanted to read the alternate ending where Snart lives!, here it is.

“I miss you, buddy,” he says. First time he’s said it out loud in... a long while. It doesn’t hurt as much this time, and a fond feeling bubbles up in his chest. Probably from drinking so much beer.

Snart finishes up, “You’re gonna get out of this, partner. After all,” he smirks, “cold is _my_ thing.”

Mick laughs. Then abruptly stops. “Gideon, rewind.” He pauses. “Don’t tell me it’s not ‘rewinding’ any more. Just go back. 4 seconds.”

Snart finishes up. “After all, cold is—”

_“Pause!”_

_There!_ Mick’s hands clutch his custom parka. He leans into the image and blows out a long breath. 

A hand. There is a hand on Snart’s left shoulder. A thick hand, sporting burn scars and jagged nails with typewriter ink underneath. _Mick’s hand._ And Mick has definitely, definitely not seen this video before.

Mick leans back, smooths out his parka. “Huh,” he says.


	3. The Message for Strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len left a message for people he'd never met before. It scared Zari, worried Charlie, and made Nate think there was a treasure hunt. But what did he say?

Wow. Borrowing a supervillain’s coat without even asking. That’s rude. 

And it could be... 

Dangerous. 

Mwahahahaha.


End file.
